Alien Alphas: Twenty-Three Naughty Sci-Fi Romance Novellas

by Grace Goodwin

  “Got it.”

  She heard Sassik murmur a string of solemn words.

  A wish. He staked his life on a goddamned wish.

  A crack sounded above. Small rocks rolled past. Fragments pattered like heavy rain on her head.

  Sassik shifted over and somehow managed to cover her and still hold onto the cliff. “Don’t. Look.”

  With a boom and a thunderous growl that could only be an avalanche, she felt a shadow eclipse them.

  There were no screams, no further noise. Sassik shifted again.

  Above, a chunk of the edge was gone from where the Ramm had lain. Jesus.

  Remind her not to piss off this Aerthe. Maybe they landed on a weak section? Yeah. That.

  “They’ll send another,” she said.

  “No. Mekkers are practical. You’re not worth one Ramm, let alone two.”

  Below was only a deep, dark lake, swirling as megatons of water poured into what must be a near bottomless crater. Black water. Her heart chilled as a swirl of blue lashed from the depths, growing clearer, whipping close to the surface. Not tentacles, but... something terrible lived down there.

  She put her hand to her heart. “Thank you.”

  “Here.” He closed her fingers around something. “A waik crystal. We’ll go up when you’ve wished. Throw the crystal into the Chasm when you’re done.”

  Her? She blinked. Such a patient, crazy man.

  He never gave in. He pulled thorns from her rear end. Had a thing about not killing, except for Mekkers, clearly. He wanted her to be either his slave or owned by another, because her being free and his wasn’t on his agenda.

  “Come. Wish.” He stroked her hair. “I’m not keen on staying here forever.”

  “I’m not sure I believe enough.”

  “I’ll believe for you. In a place like this, incomprehensible things happen. Anything, Blue. A wish of your own.”

  Anything? How far could a wish take her?

  To return to the Mekkers and be shown a portal.

  To go back to Earth.

  Maybe a wish worked but there were limits? She might waste a real wish.

  Gravity went upside down here.

  To find a place that was safe?

  But she looked at Sassik, a man who did what he promised, who would care for her and protect her, who was so engrossed in being kind to a boy at a market stall that he forgot to watch his disobedient and poorly trained slave, a man who liked leaving handprints on her ass, and she found she really wanted to wish for something else.

  Maybe love took a different form here.

  “If you had me, if I was yours, would you care for me until death do us part?”

  She might burst into tears waiting.

  “Yes.”

  Just yes. Simple. And so very Sassik.

  Blue took a long breath, held it, and clutched the crystal so tightly her fingers could feel every sharp edge of the stone, but she didn’t close her eyes. She looked into his.

  “I’ve made my wish.”

  She let the crystal fall, heard only the thunder of the waterfalls.

  With her heart thudding, he said what she almost dreaded hearing. “What did you wish for?”

  “I wished for something stupid.”

  “Oh.” He raised his brow. “Go on.”

  “I kind of made two wishes and maybe they cancelled out.” God, she hoped not.

  “And those were?” His forehead crinkled in a stern frown.

  “I...” She stopped to take another bravery-enhancing breath and continued, more softly. “I wished to be yours and... I wished to make a family with you.” The latter had popped into her head and she found herself blushing, stuttering. “I’m sorry.”

  “Shhh. This, I like.” He placed a finger across her lips. “Let’s go up.” But first he cupped the back of her head and kissed her. “I want to say many things to you but they will wait. Up.”

  Chapter Ten

  There was something curious about Zerlin. He’d suspected it ever since this last far too obvious coincidence.

  Their gear was piled in one place with a note attached to a pack. The van was gone.

  As he read the note, Sassik imagined the gray-clad man, pushing up his spectacles and not smiling.

  I am the Caretaker of the Chasm. There will always be one but my time here is over. The house is further along the road. Take care of your slave, Blue.

  There are presents in the living room.

  You are the new Caretaker.

  Wipe your feet on the mat and remember Aerthe is with you and watching over you, but don’t get cocky.

  I will be travelling. Don’t try to find me.

  If you don’t want the job, I suppose I guessed wrong.

  He’d signed it, The Traveler.

  The house was slightly disheveled, seeming to have been built by a man with numerous ideas on construction. The cream and azure blue paintwork was mostly flaking.

  “This is apparently mine now, Blue.” Suspicious, he opened the front door with his boot. Nothing exploded. “Wipe your feet.”

  “It has a tower,” she whispered as he brought her through the door.

  “Yes.” And enough room for a family. “Your neck is far too bare. I need to fix that.”

  “Yes.” And she smiled.

  “Then I have to punish you for cursing me in the Chasm.”

  “I did?”

  Her shock amused him.

  In the living room he had her strip and kneel, then he found the red collar he’d bought such a long time ago.

  “You want to be mine?”

  “Yes, Sir, I do.”

  Saying Sir wasn’t what he’d taught her. On a cupboard behind her were the presents Zerlin had mentioned. “I like Sir. You can use it again. Until death us do part?” He remembered her phrase. It had significance for her.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I will collar you and make you my slave, forever. Hold your head high.”

  As he buckled the collar and arranged it, with the metal heart he’d found in small shop dangling to the front, he looked again at the presents.

  Zerlin had a sense of humor.

  Use me, said a label attached to a bit gag that lay beside a crop.

  Drink me, was the label on a bottle of liquor.

  Eat me, was a third label that lay by itself.

  That one, hmmm, he might attach to Blue, firstly her cunt.

  The man was a seer, obviously. A pity they couldn’t have talked.

  Sassik looked around the room then at his one and only slave, Blue. “I think we’re going to enjoy being here.”

  He squatted beside her, fastened her wrists at her front, and took her by the throat.

  Her eyes widened and softened in the way that he loved.

  “I know you don’t want me to be gentle.”

  She swallowed then quietly said, “No.”

  “Good.” He walked to the cupboard and retrieved the gag and the crop, went back to her. “Open your mouth.”

  Her immediate obedience made his heart swell, which was a little ridiculous. He decided his aberrant emotions were fine and buckled the bit gag into place. He kissed her mouth, loving the contrast of the hard gag against her softness. Then he picked her up and carried her to a well-padded sofa, and laid her on her back.

  “Put your legs up, so I can see your cunt.”

  When she grunted and raised her legs, with a hand on her ankles he helped her keep them high while he efficiently cropped her across her thighs, smacking her inner thighs beside her pussy to really make her jump.

  Soon, Blue was nicely moaning. He could see her cunt tightening rhythmically and her wetness dribble into her cleft.

  “Want me in there?”

  She nodded and spread her legs.

  “Not yet.” Using the end of the crop and his fingers he teased her, tsking when she begged through the gag and when she soaked a patch of the blanket beneath her pussy.

  The third label came in handy. He dangled it
before her, stuck it on her belly, then tongued her clit until she writhed and came. The label ended up underfoot. He threw the crop somewhere over his shoulder. The bit gag he tossed behind him also. Poised over her, with her legs held in place by his shoulders and her feet pointed at the ceiling, he slowly pushed inside.

  Watching his cock do a disappearing act inside Blue while she babbled those noises she only uttered during sex... incredible. He sank all the way into her and halted, aware of her wetness on his balls and his cock throbbing for more.

  “What are you, Blue?”

  The wriggling of her butt to encourage him to fuck her? He ignored that, and her insistent whine. He waited, patient, smiling, thinking about smacking her ass again if she said this wrong.

  Carnal need swam in her eyes. It was several seconds before understanding dawned.

  “I’m yours, Sir.”

  “Right answer.”

  With his hands wrapped about her legs and his gaze locked to hers, he fucked her hard, spearing in, shunting out. The sofa bumped the wall. His last exuberant thrusts before he filled her made Blue squeal and tilted the sofa.

  Elsewhere in the house, something fell and smashed.

  He stayed inside her, watching her face and dreaming of her wish coming true. A child would be wondrous.

  When he found the bedroom, he carried her in and dropped her onto the quilt.

  Then he lay beside her and pulled her close so she could snuggle. “How was that, my slave?” He took her tired mumble as a satisfactory answer. “Tomorrow we will talk.”

  * * *

  She’d said, I think maybe I could love you, but Blue decided it was wise to keep that part quiet.

  She was hoping more than feeling certain. Love was something you had to grow into. His smell, his body weight sinking the bed, and his presence surrounding her made her smile and she wriggled even closer to him—if that were possible. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander down the many pathways the future might offer them. What they had now was more than enough. What this might become filled her with a gentle excitement.

  Epilogue

  Zerlin resolved to choose a new name.

  He wrapped a cloth about his face then opened the back doors of the van. A new name might be judicious considering what was here. Four bodies. It’d been two days since he’d killed Boda. The man had been greedy, had planned to retake Blue after changing his mind and tracking down Sassik. The three provosts had thought a Scav would be a good sacrifice to the swathe, and wanted Blue to be theirs. Evil men.

  Sassik didn’t like killing and neither did he, though he was probably better at it than most.

  Tossing them in the Chasm would not have made the Aerthe happy. She ate those she had to, not random corpses. He hauled out the first and dragged him to the crevasse he’d found, rolled him in.

  Good riddance.

  He wasn’t sure if Sassik had wished but he could guess. Aerthe would’ve grabbed the Ramm anyway, with it so close to her naked maw. She hated the invaders. Still, she would appreciate having a Caretaker who believed.

  He hadn’t. He’d thrown his enemy into the Chasm, years ago. Big mistake.

  His penance as Caretaker was over.

  He understood what Aerthe truly was better than most.

  A vicious, frightful, caring beast of a world. She protected what was hers, as men did with their pets.

  After he was done, he cleaned his spectacles and drove off, following the road wherever it might lead him.

  The End

  About Cari Silverwood

  Cari Silverwood is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of kinky darkness or sometimes of dark kinkiness, depending on her moods and the amount of time she’s spent staring into the night. When others are writing bad men doing bad things, you may find her writing good men who accidentally on purpose fall into the abyss and come out with their morals twisted in knots.

  If you’d like to learn more go to

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  Claiming His Virgin by Grace Goodwin

  Interstellar Brides®: The Virgins, Book 0

  Chapter One

  Helen, Planet Everis, the Touchstone

  I entered the garden, my knees weak. I followed the path as instructed and found the beautiful white stone bench exactly where he’d promised next to a bubbling fountain and surrounded by flowers. The sweet scent filled the air and I felt like I was living in a fairy tale.

  Except I’d travelled across the galaxy to meet him, my one true match. My mate.

  I still didn’t have any answers. But as I stared at the thick strip of black silk draped with such care over the bench, I dared to hope. Hope that he would understand. Hope that he would know exactly what I needed. Had Warden Egara been correct and the Brides Program testing tapped into my subconscious needs? Things I wanted and could never say aloud?

  I lifted the black silk into my hands. Felt the cool slide of the material and I was shocked to discover that my fingers shook. My heart pounded, fluttered so fast. I couldn’t count the beats, could barely breathe. But what I held in my hand was everything I wanted. Strange, it being a blindfold, but he’d promised if I put it on he’d give me the world. No, the entire galaxy.

  Unable to stand for another moment, I turned and sat down on the bench. The chill of the stone reached through the diaphanous white gown I wore. But even the cold was not enough to shock me from my nervous anticipation.

  On Earth, I was considered a broken woman. Strange. Caught in the past even. Especially in the city where I was raised, where women wore power suits, three-inch heels, and college degrees like badges of honor. I was supposed to be confident, aggressive, demanding. I was supposed to want true equality. Demand it. But I wanted none of those things. The truth of the matter was that I spent most of my life feeling afraid, vulnerable, and weak. I didn’t want to be strong. I wanted to serve. I found peace in giving to others. Comfort. I wanted to find a man strong enough to take care of me, to make me feel safe. Cherished.

  My desires made me an outcast among my peers. Twenty-three, a college graduate, I was supposed to be something I simply was not. I had no desire to rule the world. I was a professional photographer, and a good one. I worked with fashion models and actresses, industry icons who played with men like they’d play with their dolls. Using them in a desperate attempt to rule the world before their beauty faded, their fifteen minutes of fame was over.

  The only thing I wanted was a man strong enough to rule me.

  Yes, rule. Maybe being lightyears away from Earth gave me the courage to even think that. I couldn’t go back—there was no returning—so I could let those thoughts overwhelm me.

  Shuddering now, I could feel his eyes on me. Somehow, I knew he watched me struggle to make this decision. For if I put the blindfold over my eyes he would come for me. He would take me from this beautiful place and conquer my body. In the dreams we shared, he’d promised me pleasure. I shivered, remembering the deep gravelly tone of his voice, the dominance of his touch. It made him impossible to resist. I looked down in my lap at the thick strip of silk spread across my knees and made my decision. I hadn’t come halfway across the galaxy to lose my courage now. I wasn’t afraid of him in the dreams and I wasn’t afraid of him now.

  I lifted the blindfold and covered my eyes completely, tied a firm knot at the back of my head. I could see nothing, the fabric blocking out almost all light except for a thin sliver at the bottom. As instructed, I folded my hands together demurely and sat with my spine straight and my head bent waiting for my master to come claim me.

  A little nervous laugh escaped my lips.

  Yes, master. He would be in charge. In control. He would love me with a guiding hand—and perhaps a firm one, too. I ached for that. For him. If he
watched, he’d see my nipples hard against my thin gown. I wanted this.

  I wanted him.

  He didn’t make me wait long. It was as if I could feel him, his body, his desire coming closer. I held my breath when I heard the slightest scruff of footsteps on the path.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  I knew that voice, felt it all the way to my bones. The rough timbre of his voice was even more seductive in person and my entire body shivered in response. I bit my lip and didn’t respond as he’d not asked me to. I waited impatiently for him to touch me and when it finally came my entire body melted. I gasped as his huge, warm hand came to rest at the back base of my neck. I startled, then calmed as his thumb gently massaged the knots he found there.

  The other brides at the Touchstone had fussed over me this morning, when I had finally told them about the dreams. They’d been excited for me that my match was here, the dreams the first sign of his proximity. They’d spent hours putting my hair up in an elaborate braid that left my neck and shoulders bare. The dress I wore covered one shoulder and dipped low off the other, leaving it exposed. The material was thin and clung to every curve. The color, the pale white of freshly fallen snow, I wore at his request. The lack of undergarments was my choice. I wanted him to see how badly I needed him. I didn’t want to hide.

  I wanted him to know when my nipples hardened, when my breath caught in my throat. And I wanted something else.

  “What is your name?” I asked, my curiosity winning out on protocol.

  He’d come to me three nights in a row, in my dreams. And all three times, he’d asked me to close my eyes. To trust.

  “You will call me Master and nothing else.”

  The words made me shiver, made my pussy clench, made me wet, my body drowning in heat.

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Good little mate.”

  His touch was feather light as he traced the intricate lines of my braids, the seam of my gown. The curve of my lips, exploring me as if I were the finest china and might break at the softest touch.

  “Are you ready to come with me?”